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Tomas Rivera Conference

Presented by University of California Riverside at University of California, Riverside

April 24, 2009

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Screenwriter Ligiah Villalobos, who wrote “Under the Same Moon” (“Bajo la Misma Luna”), will be the keynote speaker at the 22nd annual Tomás Rivera Conference on Friday, April 24, at the University of California, Riverside. Among the highlights of the annual event are an art installation of a life-size car made of burlap, “My ’61 Chevy,” by Adán Avalos, an exhibition of previously unreleased photos of Rivera and other Hispanic writers by Michael Sedano, screenwriting workshops by Villalobos, and the screening of Villalobos’ “Under the Same Moon.” All events will be held on the UCR campus, and are free and open to the public. Parking costs $6. The 2009 conference has as its theme “From the Fields to the Stars” and commemorates the 25th anniversary of the death of Tomás Rivera, a Chicano poet, educator and UCR’s chancellor from 1979 to 1984. He was the first Hispanic and first minority chancellor in the UC system, and also, at 43, the youngest person ever appointed to lead a UC campus. He died in 1984 after a heart attack. Conference events start at 8 a.m. when Adán Avalos will begin the installation of his life-size burlap car in the lawn area outside the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences Interdisciplinary Building, where most conference activities will take place. Avalos, the son of farm workers, recently was the resident artist at the Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, Calif. At noon, the Flor y Canto (Flower and Song) Chicano Literature Festival archives will be inaugurated in Special Collections and Archives on the fourth floor of the Tomás Rivera Library. Rivera attended the first Flor y Canto National Chicano Literature Festival held at University of Southern California in November 1973. An original photo collection will be displayed featuring images of Rivera and other early Chicano writers at that groundbreaking festival. Michael Sedano, the donor and photographer, will be present. Villalobos will conduct three screenwriting workshops from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Interdisciplinary Building screening room. The sessions will focus on the structure of the half-hour comedy, the one-hour drama and the full-length screenplay. A question-and-answer period will follow. Villalobos has been the head writer of the Nickelodean series “Go, Diego! Go!” and previously directed all television production and development in South America for The Walt Disney Co. A 5 p.m. reception outside Interdisciplinary 1020 will include music by local guitarist Hector Ceballos. Activities will move inside at 6:15 p.m. with Carlos Cortés, UCR professor emeritus of history, performing an original dramatic solo in homage to Rivera, followed by a screening of “Under the Same Moon.” A question-and-answer period with Villalobos will follow.